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2017 Most Wanted Theme Parks

It's that time of year again where I crack my fingers, pop open Coast2Coaster and figure out what section of the world I want to tick off next! I'll be honest, 2017 isn't the MOST exciting year in the world for new stuff, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to do my damnedest to get to some more cool and interesting places. Here's my list of my 2017 Most Wanted.

Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi
I had planned on heading here last year, but my God didn't 2016 just WHIZZ by? Before I knew it the season was over and I hadn't gotten a chance to even think about booking this trip. I've had my head screwed on a little tighter this year and, even though we're getting married, I'm still trying to figure out a way for Conor and I to slither off to the UAE for some luxury culture and world class coasters: top of the list for me being Ferrari World. OK, I mostly want to go and ride Formula Rossa so I can tick 'World's Fastest' off of my bucket list, but this place is also home to some world class dark rides and Flying Aces, Skyrush's Arabian cousin. Get in my face.

Plopsaland de Panne, Belgium
Yh, not that Plopsaland is anything new or special to me, but the place has gone from strength to strength in recent years and there's LOADS of new crap for me to go try since my last visit back in 2015. A new European woodie to get under my belt and a pseudo-Disney princess castle to Instagram, plus I'd absolutely love to spend an afternoon in their incredible looking waterpark. They have a waterslide that blares Abba's Waterloo at you as you swirl down it, how can you not love the idea of that?

Movie Park Germany, Germany
For some reason this place always seems to get a bad rep, but I had a fab day there back in 2015 - the coasters are fun and there's more than a handful 'weird Europe' style dark ride type things. But this year it's scares I'm after and their Halloween Horror Fest event is rumoured to be one of the best in Europe. After being absolutely blown away by Walibi Holland's event I'm gagging to try out a few more European Halloween events so this fits the bill perfectly. Oh, and there's the minor detail of Star Trek: Operation Enterprise, a custom Mack launch coaster that also happens to be opening this year. Don't mind if I do!

Parc Astérix, France
I'm not exactly low on visits to Parc Astérix, but when it's one of the only parks in Europe getting a substantial new coaster and your best friend pretty much lives on its doorstep it'd be rude not to! The new family coaster Pégase Express looks to be of a similar style to FireChaser Express at Dollywood which I absolutely love, plus this is a much needed addition to the Greek area of the park which admittedly I'd previously just used as a path to get from Zeus back to the rest of the rides. Gorgeously themed and hopefully not shy on the infamous Astérix humour, this is definitely one I need to try out in 2017.

Hansa Park, Germany
Jesus, haven't entered these gates since the golden days of 2009 when Gerstlauer Eurofighters were the hip new kid on the block and Fluch von Novogorod was showing everybody the right way to do it. I adored my day at this park eight years ago (eight?! EIGHT?! God I'm old...) and have thought about revisiting year after year. When the park opened the ridiculous Schwur des Karnan, an INSANE looking Gerstlauer hyper coaster (yes, you read that correctly) it shot back to the top of my must do parks.

Ferrari Land, Spain
Two Ferrari parks on the list? I don't even like cars, it just happened I swear! Anyway, this weird little venture is apparently opening this year as a kind-of-but-not-really second gate to Port Aventura. Odd? Yep. Weird fit? Absolutely! Does it look good? Sort of? It has a yet-to-be-named Intamin launch coaster similar to Top Thrill Dragster/Kingda Ka as the star attraction, a couple of shot towers and some race tracks and...well not a lot else really. It's clearly all about that coaster though and I can definitely tie it in with some sort of cheap off-season Port Aventura deal so that can definitely happen.

Wiener Prater, Austria
I swear I've said I'll visit this park every damn year since the dawn of time, but so help me 2017 will be the year I finally go and collect those ten or so coasters just hanging out in the middle of Vienna. And as a theme park enthusiast I am genuinely interested by the history of this place and really want to have a little mooch around with my camera. The coasters don't look up to much at all, they just seem to be permanent versions of coaster types you'd usually find on the travelling fair circuit, but for the love of God I need to get these ticked off of my list!

Phantasialand, Germany
I'll be honest here, since riding Taron back in October I've been having withdrawal symptoms and have been looking into the quickest way to get my next fix. Tie that in with my love of Christmas events at theme parks and the fact that Christmas in Germany has been on my bucket list since forever it seems Phantasialand Wintertraum is definitely necessary to see out 2017! Not only will I be reunited with my beloved Taron but I'll also be able to eat my weight in delicious German Christmas treats. Perfect!

Phew, seems like a pretty cool line-up if I do say so myself! And I can't wait to get started!